Taiwan Nationalists have edge in early vote counts (Reuters)

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan's incumbent Nationalist president had a tiny edge on Saturday in early vote counts from an election that is being closely monitored by China and the United States as they look for stability in the region at a time of political transition.

The elections had been expected to be tight and television stations showed that with about 1 percent of the vote counted, the Nationalist Party's Ma Ying-jeou, 61, who has fostered warmer ties with China, was very slightly ahead of Tsai Ing-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Voting closed at 4 p.m. (0800 GMT). At one polling station in downtown Taipei, staff opened the beige ballot boxes and took out the pink presidential ballot slips, calling out the name of the chosen candidate and stacking the papers in piles for each candidate.

Full results are due later in the day.

Earlier, voters had queued up in orderly lines islandwide after polls opened at 8 a.m. (0000 GMT). The sky was overcast in the capital but it was relatively balmy, underlining hopes for a high turnout.

"I feel calm and hopeful," said Hwang Shiu-mei, a mother of three who was in line to vote at a booth in a Taipei market.

"I hope we can see a win-win situation with China in the coming four years. We don't want to see a stalemate and hope for a better economy, along with peace and stabilility."

Both main contestants were confident as they cast their vote early.

"I see a little sunshine now," Ma told reporters at his polling station in a Taipei church after a slight drizzle eased.

"I'm very happy, I urge everyone to come out early and vote. This weather should help the voting rate."

Asked if he had a restful night, Ma replied: "I sleep well every night."

Opposition leader Tsai, casting her ballot at a school in a Taipei suburb, said she was mentally prepared to become the first female president of Taiwan.

"I hope we will be able to give you a full explanation after the vote is counted," she said, when pressed for details.

SMOOTH VOTE

Like the run-up to the election, the voting was smooth. Unlike in 1996, when China fired missiles into waters off Taiwan before the island's first direct presidential election, Beijing has learnt to temper any response to avoid antagonizing voters into backing the DPP.

The DPP's independence-leaning stance has long angered Beijing, which deems Taiwan a renegade province and considers U.S. arms sales to the self-ruled island as the top obstacle to improved ties between the United States and China, now the world's two biggest economies.

Tsai has distanced the DPP from the independence stance. But a DPP victory could complicate matters for Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders who will hand power to a younger generation later this year and who don't want to jeopardize their legacy of fostering more stable cross-strait ties.

The United States, which holds presidential elections later this year, will also be keen to take a potential irritant in bilateral ties with China off the table.

In Taiwan, besides the presidential election, the 18 million eligible voters will also choose the island's 113-member parliament, currently dominated by the Nationalists, that will be crucial in expediting or stalling future policies.

Most analysts expect a high turnout given the closeness of the race. Nearly 200,000 Taiwanese have returned from overseas for the poll according to local media reports, cramming flights in a last minute rush to cast ballots.

Ma and Tsai, both former law academics with doctorates from Harvard and the London School of Economics respectively, held a flurry of rallies and motorcades islandwide on Friday, the final day of campaigning, with Ma focusing on the DPP's largely rural stronghold of the south and Tsai aiming north.

A third candidate, former Nationalist party member James Soong who now leads a splinter party, trails far behind in the polls but could cloud the result for the Nationalists by siphoning off some of Ma's support.

Some see the election as a referendum on the economic rapprochement with China shepherded by Ma over the last four years, that may have eased decades of animosity and the threat of outright war but raised fears of an over-reliance on its powerful neighbor.

However on the streets, livelihood issues dominate, especially at a time of global economic uncertainty for export-reliant Taiwan.

"We hope the new president can improve the economy," said Hsu Kuo-hsiung, a 49-year-old car mechanic as he polished a black sedan in his garage in a Taipei suburb.

"This is most important. If there's no stability, the economy will suffer."

(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Classic playoff matchup: Saints vs. 49ers (AP)

As NFL matchups go, this one is a classic: unstoppable offense against impenetrable defense.

The second round of the playoffs begins Saturday in San Francisco, where one of the league's top defenses — the 49ers yielded 229 points and ranked fourth overall in yards allowed, first against the run — takes on Drew Brees and the Saints' record-setting attack.

If defense wins championships, as has been the theory in pro football for decades, the edge clearly belongs to the 49ers. Then again, the NFL hasn't seen an offense as prolific as the Saints.

"They've been very consistent all year," Saints coach Sean Payton said of the NFC West champion Niners (13-3). "The formula has been outstanding defense. ... They're the No. 1 team in taking the football away and they're the No. 1 team in protecting the football offensively. Those are significant numbers.

"I think you can see week to week on tape their production on both sides of the ball. You're talking about a Pro Bowl punter and a kicking game that's near the top of the league in almost every statistic. In all three phases, they've been consistent. They've received great production and as a result they've played very well."

The 49ers have five All-Pros: linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman, defensive tackle Justin Smith, who also plays a lot at end, kicker David Akers and punter Andy Lee. Their offense has been so efficient that San Francisco had only 10 giveaways, which equaled the 2010 Patriots for fewest in NFL history.

"It's going to be a battle," Willis said. "We know that and I'm sure they know that as well. They're going to do what they need to do to prepare to come in to play against us and we're going to do that same (thing). We'll see where the chips lay when the game is over, but we're certainly going to come with everything we have. It's either win or go home."

The Saints tore through the NFL, setting NFL marks for total yards on offense (7,474) and yards passing (5,347, including sacks), with Brees shattering Dan Marino's 27-year-old record of 5,084 yards passing by throwing for 5,476. He had 468 completions, breaking Peyton Manning's 2010 mark of 450, and completed 71.6 percent of his passes, breaking his own 2009 record of a 70.6 completion percentage.

Darren Sproles had an NFL-record 2,696 combined yards, easily breaking the previous mark of 2,690 set by Derrick Mason with Tennessee in 2000.

"We always go into every game with an aggressive mentality," Brees said. "We're going to be balanced, but within the framework of that we're going to take our shots. We're going to throw the kitchen sink at everybody with our tempo, personnel groups, formations, running the ball, outside, drop-back pass, bootlegs, heavy play-action, everything. But within the framework of that, you understand, especially early on, you check it down, move on."

Also looking to move on Saturday are the AFC East champion Patriots (13-3), who host the AFC West winners, the Denver Broncos (9-8). On Sunday, AFC South winner Houston (11-6) is at AFC North champ Baltimore (12-4) before defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay (15-1) hosts NFC East champ New York (10-7).

New England has lost its last three postseason games: the 2008 Super Bowl to the Giants, then home matchups with Baltimore and the Jets the last two Januarys. Now comes the Tim Tebow phenomenon, and it's become difficult to doubt Denver with the way it has responded to tough times.

After blowing a 14-point lead and being forced to overtime by Pittsburgh, the Broncos needed all of one play — a dynamic 80-yard catch-and run by Demaryius Thomas — to beat the far more experienced Steelers.

The challenge is just as formidable in Foxborough.

"You're definitely at a high, you're feeling great, a lot of momentum, and that's good," Tebow said. "But you really have to take that enthusiasm, that momentum into the next week's work, using that as fuel for next week and trying to continually improve on that. I think you can't necessarily relish on it too much because the next day we have to get ready for a big game and the Patriots."

Baltimore is getting ready for its first playoff home game under coach John Harbaugh, Jim's brother. The Ravens have made the playoffs in all four seasons under Harbaugh, but as wild cards.

They won their eight home games in 2011, including beating the Texans 29-14 in October.

"We did what we had to do to get that first-week bye," defensive end Cory Redding said. "We came out of the back stretch 3-1, and that was our main focus. Guys are fighting on the field with big gashes down their legs and almost bruised ribs, messed up knees and toes and ankles and hands, and yet we still fought our way.

"That was the biggest thing. We got that accomplished. We got control in the AFC North accomplished, and now it's time to rest, recover and get ready for the second season and winning Game 1. That was the mindset for the guys. It was a big accomplishment."

Like the Texans, the Giants are trying to accomplish a difficult feat: winning at Lambeau Field, where the Packers were 8-0, and defeating a team that beat them in early December in the Meadowlands.

New York is banking on a revived defense, especially the pass rush, and an invigorated running game.

"Persistence ... and the ability to ride the ups and the downs and stay together," Giants coach Tom Coughlin credited for his team's recent surge. "The development of the feeling of `team.' The confidence that grows from a little bit of success. The ability to put some of the pieces to the puzzle together that haven't been there, that weren't there, that do breed the confidence."

Judge: John Edwards has serious heart condition (AP)

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Ex-presidential candidate John Edwards has a serious heart condition that will require a medical procedure next month and his illness limits his travel including for an upcoming court case over possible campaign violations, his doctor told a judge, who delayed the trial.

Federal Judge Catherine Eagles did not disclose the exact nature of Edwards' illness Friday or what procedure he needed. However, she said the two-time presidential candidate had "three episodes" and indicated his condition could be life-threatening if left untreated.

A cardiologist for the 58-year-old ex-North Carolina senator wrote two letters about his condition to Eagles, who talked about them during a hearing to consider whether the trial on six felony and misdemeanor counts should begin this month. Eagles said jury selection will now start March 26, at the earliest.

Edwards is taking medication and is scheduled to undergo a procedure in February from which it will take several days to recover, Eagles said. She did not describe what the episodes involved or if the procedure would require unclogging arteries or other common treatments. The doctor's letters and other medical records have been kept under seal by the court.

"The public has an interest in a speedy trial," Eagles said from the bench. "Ordinarily, I would try to manage something like this. But clearly there are some limitations on Mr. Edwards due to real and serious health issues."

His doctor had recommended he not drive or travel, but at the judge's request, Edwards was in court. He didn't appear to have any outward signs of illness, though he was without his usual quick smile or bounce in his step.

The trial has already been delayed twice, including a continuance granted so Edwards could attend his eldest daughter's wedding.

Prosecutors took no position on whether the judge should grant the delay due the defendant's health condition, but said they were ready to try Edwards. He is accused of concealing nearly $1 million in cash and checks from wealthy donors used to help hide his pregnant mistress during his 2008 White House run.

Edwards's legal team and spokespeople have been mum about his condition since his diagnosis last month, declining repeated requests for comment on his condition, including after the hearing.

Known for being telegenic Edwards had customarily entered the federal courthouse through the public entrance, where a group of reporters and cameramen assemble. But on Friday, he took steps to slip through unnoticed. A court security officer indicated he had come and gone through a back door.

Two years ago, Edwards confessed he fathered a baby born to his ex-mistress. He had long denied the girl, Frances Quinn Hunter, was his, even after he admitted cheating on his wife with the child's mother, Rielle Hunter. Hunter had been hired before Edwards' 2008 White House campaign to shoot behind-the-scenes video of him.

Edwards' confession came ahead of the release of a book by former aide Andrew Young. The book described how Edwards worked to hide his paternity with the help of his married aide.

Shortly before the 2008 presidential primaries began, Young stepped forward to claim that he — not Edwards — was the child's father. But there were suspicions at the time that the fiercely loyal aide was taking the fall for his boss.

The child was conceived in mid-2007, while Edwards was running for the White House, and around the time he was renewing his vows after 30 years of marriage.

In early 2010, Edwards publicly admitted fathering Hunter's child and friends disclosed that he and his wife, Elizabeth, were separated. She died in December 2010 from incurable breast cancer that was first diagnosed in 2004, a day after the Democratic ticket that included John Edwards as the vice presidential candidate lost to George W. Bush.

The Edwardses were law school sweethearts who married just days after they took the bar exam together in the summer of 1977. They had four children together, including a son who died at age 16. Although the couple had separated, John Edwards was at her side around the clock as her health deteriorated. He did not speak at her funeral.

Edwards made millions as a trial lawyer before beginning his political career with a successful 1998 Senate campaign.

___

Online:

AP interactive - _http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2011/edwards

___

Follow AP writer Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck

Father of Calif. killings suspect is also homeless

YORBA LINDA, Calif. ? �Just days before being arrested, a Marine veteran suspected in the deaths of four homeless men in Southern California visited his father, who is himself homeless, warning of the danger of being on the streets and showing him a picture of one of the victims.

"He was very worried about me," Refugio Ocampo, 49, told The Associated Press on Sunday. "I told him, 'Don't worry. I'm a survivor. Nothing will happen to me.'"

The father also said his son came back a changed man after serving in Iraq, expressing disillusionment and becoming ever darker as his family life frayed and he struggled to find his way as a civilian.

The father said he lost his job and home, and ended up living under a bridge before finding shelter in the cab of a broken-down big-rig he is helping repair.

His 23-year-old son, Itzcoatl Ocampo, is awaiting charges in connection with the serial killings of four homeless men since late December.

He was arrested Jan. 13 after a locally known homeless man, John Berry, 64, was stabbed to death outside a Carl's Jr. restaurant in Anaheim. Bystanders gave chase, and police made the arrest.

Refugio Ocampo said that on Jan. 11 his son came to him with a picture of the first victim, 53-year-old James Patrick McGillivray, who was killed on Dec. 20.

"'This is what's happening,'" the father quoted his son as saying.

Itzcoatl Ocampo had been living with his mother, uncle, and younger brother and sister in a rented house on a horse ranch surrounded by the sprawling suburbs of Yorba Linda. At the humble home, his mother, who speaks little English, tearfully brought her son's Marine Corps dress uniform out of a closet and showed unit photos, citations and medals from his military service.

The son followed a friend into the Marine Corps right out of high school in 2006 instead of going to college as his father had hoped. Itzcoatl Ocampo was discharged in 2010 and returned home to find his family in disarray, the father said.

That same month, Itzcoatl Ocampo's friend, Cpl. Claudio Patino IV, 22, of Yorba Linda, was killed in combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

"Once he received the news he was never the same," said the suspect's younger brother, 17-year-old Mixcoatl Ocampo. He said his brother visited Patino's grave twice a week.

Refugio and Mixcoatl both described a physical condition Itzcoatl suffered in which his hands shook and he suffered headaches. Medical treatments helped until he started drinking heavily, both said.

"He started drinking like crazy, too much, way too much," the father said.

A neighbor who is a Vietnam veteran and the father both tried to push Itzcoatl to get treatment at a Veterans hospital, but he refused. Refugio Ocampo said he wanted his son to get psychological treatment as well.

"He started talking about stuff that didn't make any sense, that the end of the world was going to happen," he said.

While Refugio Ocampo lives away from his family, they remain close. He saw his children every day, and his wife brings food to the parking lot where the truck is located in the city of Fullerton. He and his two sons went to get haircuts together just a day before the arrest, the father said.

Refugio Ocampo, who said he was educated as a lawyer in Mexico, immigrated with his wife and Itzcoatl in 1988 and became a U.S. citizen. He described building a successful life in which he became a warehouse manager and bought a home in Yorba Linda. In the past few years he lost his job, ran out of savings, lost his house and separated from his wife.

Standing near the truck where he sleeps, the father fought back tears as he described the changes he saw in his son in the year since returning home.

"Before, he had the initiative to do things, the desire. But after the military, he didn't have any of that," he said.

That was far from the son who in high school was a polite and motivated student, he said.

A school friend, Brian Doyle, portrayed Itzcoatl Ocampo as a fun-loving teen who liked to hit on girls when he joined the military. After he was discharged and returned home he became isolated and trusted no one, Doyle, 23, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Doyle had difficulty describing the change he saw in his friend from high school.

"He went from being a tall, geeky kid, really fun-loving...," he said, trailing off.

Doyle said he once offered his friend a self-help book based on Eastern philosophy that he had found useful but Itzcoatl Ocampo rejected it.

Doyle said he tried to find out what was going on with his friend but didn't press it, never imagining something like the serial killings.

"Everyone's got their issues, you know," he said.

Refugio Ocampo said investigators came to him on Friday night and showed him surveillance photos from a crime scene, but he did not recognize his son as the person in the images.

"If he did it, it wasn't right, obviously. But there's something wrong with him," he said.

In addition to Berry and McGillivray, Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was killed near a riverbed trail in Anaheim on Dec. 28; and Paulus Smit, 57, was found dead outside a Yorba Linda library on Dec. 30.

Anaheim Police Chief John Welter has said investigators are confident they have the man responsible for the string of murders that struck fear into Orange County's homeless since Dec. 20. Prosecutors have yet to file charges.

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Face and 'effort' controlled iPad game helps you outrun the competition (video)

BitGym launches innovative exercise-motion based game for iOS

(San Francisco CA, January 9th) Today, BitGym launched Fit Freeway, the first entry in BitGym's exergaming portfolio. Fit Freeway re-invents the boring cardiovascular workout by turning it into an arcade racing game. This is made possible by BitGym's ground breaking technology which turns any user's iPad or iPhone, when placed on a cardio machine, into an exercise gaming console.

Fit Freeway is easy to play. The exerciser simply places an iPad or iPhone on the fitness equipment, (e.g. an exercise bike or elliptical trainer) and begins their workout. No special hardware or cables required - just the iOS device and the exercise equipment. Using BitGym's patent-pending algorithms and motion sensing technology, Fit Freeway senses the rate of the exercise on the equipment, as well as the head position of the user. Exercise faster the accelerate your car and simply tilt your head left or right to steer.

"We think that FitFreeway is just the start for BitGym. We have ambitious plans to change the way people think about cardio. For too long people have been told to worry about minutes, miles or calories - but really what is important is that people are engaged, have tangible goals, and keep coming back. Cardio machines are awful at all these things, but with videogames we can change that. Research out of the Behavioral Medicine Laboratory at the University of Virginia sees cardio machine exergames increasing workout adherence by 83%," says Alex Gourley, BitGym's CEO.

To kickstart this trend BitGym has made a beta SDK available which gives developers access to their motion tracking and exercise tracking technology. Fit Freeway is the first release utilizing this SDK - the game was originally a traditional racing game called Final Freeway developed by Oyatsukai for iOS and Android.

Fit Freeway Facts:
Fit Freeway has eight stages, three different difficulty levels, three different play modes and iPod music support. The objective of the game is complete each timed stage before time runs out. But with other cars, buses and trucks in the road, it won't be easy! Fit Freeway is available now for $4.99, and Fit Freeway Lite is available for free.

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Tea Party may get rebuffed in tax cut showdown (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – House Speaker John Boehner, hoping to spare fellow Republicans a second embarrassing defeat over payroll tax cuts, is prepared to navigate around rebellious Tea Party-aligned lawmakers to get a deal, according to congressional aides.

Republicans in the House of Representatives got a public drubbing from critics within and outside the party in December for initially refusing to approve a Senate plan to extend the tax break for 160 million Americans through February.

The party of lower taxes was left on the defensive, countering a barrage of criticism that its unwillingness to compromise threatened an effective tax hike on workers, potentially damaging the fragile economic recovery.

Now, with Democratic and Republican negotiators preparing for a new round of talks in the coming days to extend the payroll tax cut for the rest of the year, Republican leaders are anxious to move quickly to get a deal, aides said.

Party leaders fear another battle could distract from the more important task at hand - ousting President Barack Obama from the White House and winning majority control of the Senate in the November elections. They also want to neutralize an issue that Democrats already are using to their advantage in the presidential and congressional campaigns.

"I think Boehner will seek a more accommodating approach to get a good percentage of Democrats to vote for it - even if it costs him a lot of House Republican freshmen," one House Republican leadership aide told Reuters.

"His instincts will be not to be so reliant on House Republican freshmen," the aide added, referring to the 85 first-term congressmen.

The freshmen, many of whom are aligned with the populist budget-slashing Tea Party movement, helped the Republican Party win control of the House in 2010 and have since proven stubbornly uncompromising in the debate over taxes and spending.

Congress has until February 29 to agree on extending the tax cut, which would give the average middle-class family about $1,000 extra a year.

Support has always been soft among Republicans for the payroll tax cut championed by Obama. They question its effectiveness in stimulating the economy and the wisdom of using revenues intended for the Social Security retirement program.

But the political fallout from the December showdown with Democrats was so unpleasant for Republicans that some congressional aides now speculate that Republicans might push to accelerate a deal by January 24, when Obama gives his annual State of the Union address to Congress.

BIGGER BILL/BIGGER PROBLEMS?

Many Tea Party-aligned lawmakers in the House are bitter that Boehner ultimately caved to pressure and agreed to the two-month extension in December. When Boehner informed his caucus of his decision in a conference telephone call, rank-and-file members' phone lines were muted in an effort to quell dissent.

Some Tea Party lawmakers, however, see round two of the payroll tax cut negotiations as another opportunity to press their demands for cuts to unemployment benefits and some federal healthcare programs and a freeze on federal workers' pay.

Those are unlikely to be accepted by Democrats who feel they have the political upper hand. But in the end, Boehner is expected to settle for a deal that gets the job done even if he loses the support of scores of Republican freshmen.

A senior Senate Republican aide said December's drama might have even strengthened Boehner's hand. Given that a conservative groundswell in late December to block the two-month payroll tax cut, against Boehner's advice, "backfired in a big way," some of those conservatives might now conclude that "Boehner knows what he's doing" and fall into line with him.

Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith would not address the potential divisions among Republicans. Instead, he noted "bipartisan support for extending payroll tax relief for a full year, extending and reforming unemployment benefits, and offsetting the cost with spending cuts, while there is bipartisan opposition to tax hikes."

Freshman Republican Representative Jeff Landry, a Tea Party favorite, said that while he favors cutting workers' taxes, the payroll tax cut is "a terrible idea" because it taps revenues that are supposed to be dedicated to Social Security.

Asked about Boehner's strategy for getting the full-year extension through the House by February, Landry said: "I don't know how he's going to play it. I hope he does a better job than the last time."

Landry said he will look closely to see if and how the next payroll tax cut is paid for. That is where Tea Party-aligned lawmakers could again make things more complex on Capitol Hill.

Many in Congress think this could be the first and last major bill to pass Congress in this election year, except for must-do spending measures to keep the government operating.

Lobbyists are bombarding Congress for requests to add pet projects onto the payroll tax cut bill - mainly extending about $35 billion worth of tax breaks for businesses that expired on December 31. Those include a research and development tax credit and a shorter depreciation period retailers enjoyed for business improvements.

While these tax incentives typically enjoy broad support in Congress, the lost revenues, amid huge budget deficits, likely will spark a loud debate over whether they must be paid for.

Republicans have long argued that the cost of these kinds of tax breaks do not have to be offset, as they spur economic growth over the long run and pay for themselves. It is an idea many Democrats and economists have challenged as unfounded.

Now, some fiscally conservative Republicans are joining in.

"I think everything has got to be fully paid for. We can't afford to increase the debt more or rob more money out of Social Security," freshman Representative Jeff Denham told Reuters.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)